WHO does think DUO 11 is a good model?

From MSI USA's own page:

MSI USA - Brand Story

Nice refinement guys.

(1) Should be "from roughness to refinement" or "from rough to refined," not "from rough to refinement."
(2) Should be "founded."
(3) Should be "your."
(4) I have no idea what the subject of this sentence is, but it's definitely lacking a subject. We've just got a verb, direct object, and indirect object.

 

You didn't know? I thought it was mentioned in the other "? Duo replaces Z?" thread or maybe earlier in this thread. Regardless whether you like it or not or think if Duo can replace Z as your laptop of choice, the fact of matter is Duo DID replace Z's production line in Japan. It will be the only Made in Japan VAIO now, as Z was...

 

I didn't realize that the Duo 11 was made on the Z's production line. That may make Z owners unhappy, but as a Duo owner, it makes me very happy.

The Duo may not be the same sort of machine as the Z, but in a way it makes sense in that it's the pinnacle of the OS. The Z was Sony's take at "Windows 7 at its coolest" (high-performance, thin, light, impossibly-high resolution when it was released). The Duo is the is Sony's take at "Windows 8 at its coolest," complete with stable easel-style screen support, digitizer stylus, etc.

 

I agree. The threads actually never mentioned that the Duo 11 was actually going to be made in Japan. The thread only explained that the Vaio Z was being replaced by Duo 11 as a successor, but there was never any implication that the computer was actually made in Japan. We all know that manufacturing can be at random countries for computers.

 

Very jealous of you guys, the design has grown on me and I really want one now. Telling myself to wait for the Haswell refresh, but I'm not sure i'm strong enough :\

 

Hey guys It's been a while since I've visited

Just wanted to share my experience.
I gave away my Vaio Z2 to my sister few months back so I was open to window shopping but NEVER had intention of buying another laptop since I have a work laptop. Saw this online last week and caught my interest

Decided to go to local sony store to check it out.. in 5mins i was sold. The only I asked sony rep is to let me take it to a sofa so i can sit and see the tilt angle. It was perfect.
Really a no brainer that this is a very different product in the industry.

I wanted to order it online with windows 8 pro/clean install (i hope this doesn't bite me in the later) but i am jet sailing on a 2 week business trip this week and I knew i had to get it.
Went back to Sony store later that evening and picked up this thing

----------------------------

Duo i7/256SSD/8GB config
The IPS Display is GORGEOUS as always. Really makes a good first impression and the LED backlight is really BRIGHT if needed. Love it.

I can say its nice! I can definitely seeing myself use this. I was worried about 'real junk' software installed but really there were no more than 5-6apps that i wanted to remove. everything else FRESH. so no worries here guys

It definitely impressed ALL my friends for you early adopters.


Definitely look into getting the oem sony case they have for this and screen protector. None were in stock yet. I can't see myself start using the stylus until then.
Can't wait to install Outlook and start using this as my backup work laptop

 

Mine's somewhere over the Pacific right now...so jealous. What a gorgeous machine.

 

Congrats on your new Duo!!!
So how its it performance wise?
Fast like the Z2?
I am still undecided whether to get the Duo or the latest Z2 refresh to replace my Z2...

 

I couldn't be more happy that you posted pictures. I've really been looking forward to seeing some pictures as mine only just now has shipping update. I was to annoyed that my Duo hadn't shipped on the 26th, and I ended up preemptively picking up a Surface RT that I'll most likely give to my fiancé to replace her Android tablet (and maybe even her Vaio TT). I have to say Win8 on a tablet has really impressed me, and these newer slimmer form factors have me looking at my Z old news despite how much I love that machine.

 

My apology, I dont know why I was confused- I owned a Z 1

I can't speak much on performance because everything seems fast as usual.

I can say though that the new rapidwake technology in windows8 is complimentary to already-fast SSD performance witnessed in Z series. That said, yes it is matter of eye blink and you're back to homescreen. Like tablet

This perfect for those who can't use android/ipad tablets and want laptop like features in tablet form. I owned android/ipad and was nothing more than a coffee toaster. This is a good balance i look forward to enjoying

 

Hi guys

I'm still waiting for my duo11 to arrive (apparently it wont ship until halloween)


I'm wondering if anyone who already has their duo11 could do me/us a favour and connect the duo11 to an hdtv with an HDMI??

I'm hearing and fearing that the image quality is horrible like how some Surface RT tablets are experiencing

 

Surface RT and Duo11 is totally different hardware hence it shouldn't be a problem unless you like to explain the details


One thing i am noticing is this Intel n-6235 wireless card is giving huge connection problems. It connects to network but doesn't do anything afterwards. upon research, it seems like this is one BIG issue with these wifi cards

 

well im thinking its a concern with the 4000 hd chip

the noted distorted/streaked image issue when using hdmi with the surface is the same thing im hearing from a couple of people on a chinese forum for the duo but their details were a bit sparse

 

I am very much looking forward to this machine although as a partner to my Z5 rather than a replacement. I've never been that impressed with the tablets so far as they seem too basic and I've also been disappointed that some of the Ultrabooks seem to be pointlessly thin which means they lose all the standard ports (VGA, LAN etc.) and only have a couple of USB ports meaning you need to use adapters. Comparatively I have an old TX1HP (think it was the 670 in the US) which is very small and light yet not only manages all the standard ports but a high capacity battery and an optical drive as well. The new very high resolution screens on the tablets and some of the Ultrabooks has caught my eye though as I do a fair amount of photography so the Vaio Duo 11 seems an ideal machine in offering a beautiful 1080p screen, VGA and LAN ports plus a proper keyboard.

I'm split over which spec to go for though, initially I was going to put an order in for the i7, 256GB SSD and 4GB ram but I noticed one store has the middle spec i5/4GB/128GB available now (PCWorld, not my first choice but doesn't make that much difference after buying the machine) and starting to wonder whether spending the 40-50% more on the high spec machine is going to be worth it as the i7 only looks to have a slight clockspeed/cache advantage over the i5. Part of me thinks it's best to buy the highest spec you can as I assume most of the parts on this type of machine are not easily replaceable but then I wonder whether it will actually bother me that much. Even if Sony US do ship to the UK, by the time you add shipping, insurance, VAT and any duty the price difference is usually closed considerably and there's the warranty headache if Sony UK won't touch it. I prefer UK keyboards as they have the backslash beside the 'Z' key which seems minor but I use it a lot so would annoy me not having it.

John

 

I wouldn't opt for the 256gb ssd if you're customizing as you can get SSD's for far cheaper outside of Sony (its insane what sony is asking for them)

and why not just order from sony.co.uk?

 

Is it a standard 2.5in drive? I assume it was using a proprietary form factor although haven't read anything of it. According to the site, Sony.co.uk aren't shipping the machines yet.

Edit: Didn't realise just how much cheaper the machines were in the states, unfortunately the Sony store doesn't appear to ship to international addresses.

John

 

i would highly doubt you can put a 2.5in SSD drive in there... while also knowing that Z used to have proprietary connectors. why go through all the hassle and trouble and be cheap? i bet some of us waste that amount in difference on much more stupid things lol

 

More realistically it's probably a 1.8" drive in order to fit into that form factor.
Like others have said, I don't have time to waste messing around with stuff like that anymore. I'd rather just save the hassle and get it done from the factory the way I want it. Of course your mileage may vary though.

 

I forgot to tell people who are buying anything from Sony-

If you buy through ebates, you can get 3% cashback from the Sony Store. You can get 10% off from Sony Education plus another 3% off from ebates. I got $55 cashback from their site, paid through Paypal or a mailed check.

My total came out to be $1845 for the Core i7 configuration ready to ship with the 3 year ADH warranty with Vaio Duo 11 case and screen protector.

Tip for everyone to pretty much offset the tax cost or just lower the price.

 

I would have been surprised if the drive was user upgradeable to be honest particularly as there's nothing above a 256GB option. The Vaio Duo is substantially more expensive over here so it's not really a case of 'being cheap', a fully loaded Vaio from Sony US with the extra battery and case is about the same cost as middle spec machine here with no accessories. I was fine with the i7/256GB initially but really thinking about the benefit for the large additional cost I'm starting to think it may not be worth it.

Also annoyingly the UK store doesn't seem to be selling the battery or case nor can I find any for sale elsewhere at the moment, anyone found these available anywhere to the UK?

John

 

You might be right but if you want Core-i7, you don't have other option.

 

Mine is here! Build quality is unimpeachable. Screen is gorgeous. Keyboard is just fine if you have smaller hands, but would be an issue for meaty hands. For me, it's no problem at all. It's pleasantly portable. Still getting used to how to open and close it...it's definitely not intuitive, and it's tricky to grab that first lip. Looking forward to spending some time in ArtRage with the stylus. Overall, love it.

 

for anyone who receives their Duo11, please check if you experience wireless card < > router connection issue. It seems like a driver bug or something that is causing abnormal wifi connection.
Upon researching on google, it seems other folks have issue with Intel Centrino Advanced- N 6235 (wifi card used in Duo11)

reference: Sporadic but recurring connection dropouts on an Intel 6235 wireless adapter

 

My machine is still stuck somewhere, since Hurricane Sandy probably delayed my shipping...Hopefully it arrives soon unscathed!

 

How does this ebate work? Just click on the link on the ebate site, and they will give you cash back at a later time?

 

Yep...so you can click on a Sony link from the ebate website that says get 3% cashback and that's all there is to it...then shop on the Sony site and don't close the window so they know you've purchased it.

I've been using it for the past couple of years now and have always gotten money back through a mailed check.

 

So then you go back to ebates at a later date and pick how you wanted the cash back? Kinda like how microsoft had the bing search cash back then awhile back.

 

Yep exactly! Bing Rewards gave me a lot more haha...too bad they don't have them anymore.

 

Looks like I'm gonna have to wait a little longer. I placed my order on the 19th with expected ship date of the 26th. On the 26th only my battery shipped and was told that it would prolly be the 14th. I have a few sony retail stores around so I wanted to make sure how I can cancel my order if I find one at a retail store. So they sent customer service and email about what or how I can cancel my order if I find one at a store. Found out today that my order was gonna ship on the 30th, then later today found out that they also cancelled my order. Had to talk to a sales rep and they told me the next expected ship date would be the 14th but I'm leaving on the 16th so they told me i can 2 day ship it for an extra $50 plus expedite it for $30 and I will receive it 1 day after it ship. So in the end I reordered and got free 2 day and expedite shipping but i'm gonna have to wait longer.

 

So far, I didn't have any wifi issue.

Some games tested on my i7 duo 11

Torchlight 2
NBA2K12
Street Fighter 4 vs Tekken

All in highest resolution and play smoothly!!!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

No wifi problems here.

The screen is breathtaking. I've never seen a screen so gorgeous. Great colors, bright, incredible sharpness.

The keyboard is just fine. The keys are small, sure, but if you don't have huge hands, once you get used to it, you can type as fast as you want. The action is crisp and precise. The more you type on it, the more you like it and the less the size bothers you.

At first I hated the opening-and-closing mechanism, but as I get used to it and as it gets the initial stiffness out, it works quite well. Still, they should have made the tab you lift on to open it bigger.

I've never used a digitizer stylus before, and so far, I'm not sold on it. But I may just not be used to it. Still, while I suspect I may use it in specialized situations, it'll never be a primary input method for me.

The materials feel great in the hand. Most of it is a cool metal (magnesium alloy), though the bottom feels to be a high-quality plastic material, which makes it comfortable on the lap.

The fan really isn't audible at all in a workplace environment. At home, I can hear the slightest whisper. It's certainly not disruptive; it's barely audible.

I have yet to see a hint of lag. The i3 seems perfectly adequate.

 

Trackpoint functionality is notably improved once you turn off tap-to-click in the Vaio Control Center. It works very well for interacting with small menus and toolbars in desktop mode. I never use it in metro.

 

looks like then i need to replace my router? ..

otherwise i am loving this laptop so i dont want to return it :/

 

I just placed my order tonight for the specs in my signature. It seemed to be a pretty good deal for $1450 including the 2 year warranty and extra battery using my student discount. I'm looking forward to using this as a textbook replacement and annotating lecture slides. I'll be sure to include lots of benchmarks when I get my hands on my unit. I'm looking forward to seeing how well it handles Unigraphics or Autodesk Inventor for basic CAD work that I can now create by hand with Sketchbook. Though my hand drawn CAD work will probably be just as terrible as how well this machine overclocks.

 

Sony vaio duo 11 play street fighter vs tekken - YouTube

Using Sony Vaio Duo 11 (i7) play street fighter vs tekken
Benchmark result "A"

 

I cracked and ordered a mid-spec preconfigured machine (i5/128GB SSD/4GB) which I'm hoping should ship shortly, the tipping point was a 5% code which knocked a reasonable £50 off the price. Annoyingly I was happy to pay the £3.99 express delivery charge but a bug in their website meant I couldn't select that option.

Next issue is trying to find the extended battery and case, strangely Sony don't seem to have either here although they're finally listing a battery (no price or information) so hopefully it will be available soon.

I was watching a program called BBC Click which is a technology program in the UK and noticed they were demoing Windows 8 using the Vaio Duo 11, the screen did look very pretty and the design seemed to work well as a hybrid. I thought the way the screen only slid up half the base was just a compromise of the design but it seems to work much better for touch operation when using the keyboard compared to other standard laptop designs with touch screens.

John

 

The battery is $150, the case is $45 and the screen protector is $20. These prices being in US dollars but hopefully Sony doesn't mark up their prices on accessories for the European market.

 

Will this work? I handwrote this forum post in cursive. My handwriting is awful so I'm impressed with the handwriting recognition.

 

I'll be surprised if they're not substantially more expensive here as that's the norm although there's no rush with the battery at least so may be better waiting until there's sellers who can ship from the US or far east which can still work out a fair bit cheaper. Frustratingly there is no sign of the machine order itself being processed, my credit card company helpfully blocked my card (as they do every time I buy a PC even though they have a pretty piechart on their site showing 90% of my purchases are technology?!) so I'm not sure if payment has gone through or not, I'd have thought they would have been in touch if not but they're not the best for customer service.

John

 

Just picked one up. Pretty nice.

Does anyone know how to find the Product Key for Windows 8? I did a reset, and it seems like I need to enter it. I have no idea where it is though on this ultrabook/tablet.

 

Sorry, doesn't work - I have no idea what you're trying to say

 

Just ended up trading in at my local sony store my vaio s 13 inch. It was an i7 4gigs of ram (upgraded myself to 8gigs), 6660m (?), and a 500gb hdd (+64gb ssd I added as the boot partition) to the duo 11, i5, 6gigs of ram, 128gb ssd. I am a medical student that had been using both a 3rd gen ipad and the vaio s to study at starbucks/library and it was getting annoying to carry around both. Decided ill trade in my vaio s and give ipad to live-in girlfriend and just use the duo as a replacement for both.

When I walked into the store I tried both the duo 11 and the 13 inch touchscreen t series. That t series is really really nice, unfortunately the one flaw I had was the 768 res. After coming from the vaio s's 1600x900 res, 768 just seemed too pixelated. The other thing I really hated was that the viewing angles on both the s and the t were awful. This swayed me immediately towards the duo. This display (im typing on it right now) is amazing. So bright, so crisp, love the colors.

While trying the duo in the store, I noticed the difficulty with which typing presents. I really wish the keyboard keys would be slightly bigger, as the cramped nature isn't what is difficult, its that there are too many gaps inbetween keys and sometimes you end up missing. The more I use it the more proficient I get with it, so Im sure its something I will become accustomed to.

So...any ideas of how to upgrade ram or the ssd inside? Also, just how sturdy/scratch resistant is the gorilla glass? I havn't gotten a case yet for it as the sony store didnt really have anything, so really worried about protecting this screen right now. Going to use the foam bag it comes in.

Also, any general tips from users? Enhancing battery life? How bulky is the additional battery? Any sony software to keep/whats bloatware.

 

More & more members have picked us their Duos. I think it's time Duo users have their own thread in the Owners' Lounge.

 

Anyone know why/how you can enable more tiles on screen? On my desktop windows when I use the settings charm and go to tiles, it lets me pick an option, "show more tiles". On the duo 11, this option doesn't even exist.

 

What is your laptop model and how much did they pay you for your laptop?

 

It was a vpcsa3bgx, they gave me 510 in store, good condition, everything worked, 2.6ghz i7 iirc, charger, no restore dvd and I formatted the drive so no windows. They are doing a double tradein promotion right now, that's why it was 510. With recovery cd it would have been around 540.

 

Hmm, well it seems like I am experiencing some kind of issue with the touch screen. Every now and then (not sure what brings it on), the touch screen stops working. I can navigate with the keyboard fine, but any touch control doesn't work, neither in metro nor desktop. I end up hitting the power key and relogging to make it work. Decided ill try and do a factory reset and see if the problem will go away. The factory reset is through the vaio assist and is taking an unbelievably long time.

 

One review I read mentioned this...I think either Laptop Mag or PC Mag. Most reviews don't. I've personally never had it happen. But it's not just you.

 

Do you mean the screen freezing to input or freezing to trying to change from landscape to portrait. I read about the later but not the former. Reinstall took one hour plus and I needed to go to bed so I havnt tried it out to see if it fixed it. Going to create restore points as I install just in case something specific causes it. Hope Sony just needs to update drivers or something.

Edit: checked both reviews again and PC mag mentioned it. They said it happens in laptop mode but mine happens in tablet mode. Just how a driver update happens soon to fix it